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Maldives govt aims to skip bidding in island lease

Mohamed Visham
22 June 2016, MVT 14:53
An island in Noonu Atoll earmarked to be developed as a resort.
Mohamed Visham
22 June 2016, MVT 14:53

The government has submitted an amendment for the Maldives Tourism Act, which authorises the state to lease islands, lagoons and land plots for tourism projects without putting them up for bid.

The first reading of the amendment took place at the parliament session on Monday. The amendment reads that an island, a lagoon or a land may be leased with or without a bidding process. The bidding process may be bypassed only upon submission of a detailed proposal of the project to the tourism ministry.

Other conditions for bypassing the bidding process include the location being environmentally acceptable for the project, full advance payment of the acquisition fee to the tourism ministry, and an experienced and financially suited contractor for the project.

The Tourism Act currently states that islands and lands may be leased for development of resorts only to the best bid under the policy determined by the tourism ministry.

Villimale MP Ahmed Nihan stated that the objectives of the amendment are to lengthen the lease periods of islands and lands for tourism, and to propose a new period to pay the fee for lease extensions. He went on to say that the amendment also aims to introduce a service charge for the ministry’s services in the tourism sector.

According to the amendment, direct permission from the President’s Office is required to lease an island, lagoon or land, following which the details of the project will be handed over to the Anti-Corruption Commission and the auditor general.

The amendment further proposes the selling of government shares of the state-founded joint venture companies.

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